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THE ('OTTER'S SATURDAY NKrllT. 




ROBERT^BURNS.^^ ^i^^ 
Wi I h illustrations 

DRAWN BY F.A.CHAPMAN. ENGRAVED BY J. FILMER. 

PHILADELPHIA : 

PORTER & COATES, 

822 CHESTNUT STREET. 



THE 



COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT. 



By ROBERT BURNS. 



ILLUSTRATED HY F. A. CHAPMAN 



PHILADELPHL\ : 
PORTER & COATES, 

S22 CHESTNUT STRKKT. 



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Entcrt'd accord iii.i^ to Act of Cotigrcss, in the year 1S72, 
HY I'ORTKR .t COATKS, - 
l7i the Office of llic Liljrariaii of Congress, at Washington, D. 0. 



ASHME AD, PKIXTKR. 



PUBLISHEUS' PREFACE 



In once more seiulinn- fortli to tlio world of li;i])]iy lioines, this 
noblest Poem of " the ^M'eatest Poet that c-ver spnui;;' from the 
I>osom of the pco])le/' the Puhlisliers find their oecasioii and 
excuse — if such could be ever needed — partly iu the fact, tluit it 
has never iiefore been detached from the collected Works of JJurns 
to receive those adornments of Art wliich liave been so bounti- 
fully and lovingly bestowed on Gray's •' Elegy," Goldsmith's 
"Deserted Village," Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner," Thomson's 
"Seasons," and other kindred treasures of our English verse ; but 
chietly in the cordial enthusiasm with which artist, engraver, 
[irinter, and 1)inder have lent their happiest skill to present it in 
attire harmonious with its spiritual beauty, and wortliy of its 
essential preciousne.ss. 



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Ltt n )t Vmbiti II iiiDik tin ii Ubitul toil, 

Then liDiiK'ly j'>ys. ;uui destiny obscure; 

■N ir (ji imk-iir lie;ir, wiili a disdiiinfiil smile, 

llie short but siini)le annals of the Poor. 

Gray. ^ , 

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i=_^||V^^ Y loved, my honoured, mucli-i'esperted 
friend ! 
No mercenarv bard bis homage pays ; 
A\ ith lionest pride, 1 scorn each selfish end : 
My dearest meed, a friend's esteem and 
praise : 

To yoQ I sing, in simple Scottish lays, 
The lowly train in life's sequestered scene; 
The native feelings strong, the guileless ways; 
Wliat Aiken in a cottage would have been ; 
W\ ! though his worth unknown, far happier there, I ween I 



9 




November chill blaws loud wi' ungiy sugh ; 

The shortening wiuter-day is near a close ; 
The miry beasts retreating frae the })lcugh ; 

The black'ning trains o' craws to their rei)()se: 
The toil-worn Cotter frae his lal)Oui- goes. 

This night his weekly moil is at an end, 
Collects his spades, his mattocks, and his hoes, 

Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend. 
And wearv, o"er the moor, his course does hameward ben( 





Th' expectant wee-things, tnddliu, etacher through 
To meet their dad. wi' flichterin noise an' glee. 



11 




At length bis lonely cot appears in view. 

Beneath the shelter of an aged ti'ee ; 
Th expectant wee-things, toddlin, staeher through 

To meet tlieir dad, \vi' fliehterin noise an' glee. 
His wee bit ingle, blinkin honnily, 

Ilis clean hearth-stane. his thriftie wiHe's smile, 
The lisping infant })rattling on his knee. 

Does a' his wearv carking cares beguile. 
An' makes him quite foi'get his labour an" his toil. 




13 




Belyve, tlie elder bairns eoine dra]»])ing in. 

At service out, aniang the farmers ronn" : 
Some ca" the pleugli, some henl. some tentie i-iii 

A eannie errand to a neebour town : 
Their eldest hope, tlieir Jemiy, Avoman grown. 

In youth fu' bloom, lovt; sparkling in her e"e. 
Comes hame, perhaps, to show a braw new gown. 

Or deposit lier sair-won penny-fee. 
To help her parents dear, if they in hardship) be. 







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15 




Wi' joy luifeigiied, brothers and sisters meet, 

An' eucli for other's weelfare kindly spiers : 
The social liours, swift-winged, unnoticed fleet; 

Each tells die uncos that he sees or hears ; 
The parents, partial, eye their hopeful years ; 

Anticipation forward points the view. 
The mother, wi' her needle an' her shenrs, 

Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new 
The father mixes a' wi' admonition due. 




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Their master's an' their mistress's command. 

The younkers a' are warned to obey ; 
An' mind their labours wi' an eydent hand, 

An' ne'er, though out o' sight, to jauk or play : 
" An' oh ! be sure to fear the Lord alway, 

An' mind your duty, duly, morn an' night! 
Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray. 

Implore His counsel and assisting might: 
Thcv never sought in vain that sought the Lord arig-ht!" 




19 




But bark ! a rap comes gently to the door : 

Jennv, wha kens the meaning o' the same, 
Tells how a neebonr lad cam o'er the moor, 

To do some errands, and convoy her hame. 
The wily mother sees the conscious flame 

Sparkle in Jenny's e'e, and flush her clieek : 
Wi' heart-struck anxious care, inquires his name. 

While Jenny haffiins is afraid to speak ; 
Weel pleased the mother hears it's nae wild, worthless rake. 




21 






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Wi" kindly welcome Jenny brings him ben ; 

A strappan youth ; he takes the mother's eye; 
BIytlie Jenny sees the visit's no ill ta'en ; 

The father cracks of horses, pleughs, and kye. 
The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy, 

But blate an' laithfu', scarce can weel behave ; 
The motlier, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy 

What makes the youth sae bashfu' an' sac grave ; 
Weel pleased to think her bairns respected like the lave. 




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"Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair. 

In other's arms breathe out the tender tale. 
Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the ev'ning gale." 



28 



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O liap])}' love! where love like this is found! 

O heart-felt raptures ! bliss beyond eompai'e ! 
I've paced niucli this weary, mortal round. 

And sage experience bids me this declai-e — 
'' If Ileav'n ;i draught of hcav'nly })le;isui-e spare, 

One cordial in this melancholy vale, 
'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair, 

In other's arms bi-eatlie out the tender tale, 
Rcneatli the milk-white tliorn that scents the ev'ning gale." 




25 




Is there, in Luniaa lonu, that ])ears a heart — 

A wretch ! a villain ! lost to love and truth ! 
That can, with studied, sly, ensnaring art, 

Betray sweet Jenny's unsuspecting youth ? 
Curse on his perjured arts ! dissembling smooth! 

Are honour, virtue, conscience, all exiled? 
Is there no pity, no relenting ruth, 

Points to the })arents fondling o'er tlieir child ? 
Then ])aints the ruined maid, and their distraction wild 




27 




r)Ut now the snpp<M- crowns tlieir sim})le Ijoard, 

The healsonie patTitch, chief o" Scotia's food : 
The jsoupe their only hawkie does afford, 

That 'yont the halhm suu,Ldy chows her cood ; 
'I'hc dame brings forth in complinicntal mood, 

To grace the hul, her weehhain'd ke])l)U(d^, felJ, 
An' aft hes prest, an' aft lie ca's it guid ; 

"^rhe frugal wifie, garrulous, will tell, 
How 'twas a towniond auld, sin' lint was i' the hell. 




29 




The clieerfu' supper done, \vi' serious faee, 

They, round the ingle, form a circle \vi(h> ; 
The sire turns o'er, wi' patriarchal grace, 

The big ha' Bible, ance his father's pridc^ . 
His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside, 

Ilis lyart haffets wearing tliin an' bare ; 
Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide, 

He wales a portion with judicious care : 
And "Let us worship God !"' he says, with solemn air. 




81 








They chant their artless notes in simple guise ; 

They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim 
Perhaps Dundee's wikl warbling measures rise, 

Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name; 
Or noble Elgin beets the heav'nwanl flame, 

The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays ; 
Compared with these, Italian trills are t:ime ; 

The tickled ears no heart-felt raptures raise; 
Nae unison hae thev with our Creator's })raise. 




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The priest-like fiitlior reads the saered [nv^i 



88 




The priest-like father reads the sacred pag-e, 

How A1 )rain was the friend of God on liigii ; 
Or, Moses bade eternal warfore wage 

With Amalek's ungTacious progeny ; 
Or how the royal Bard did groaning lie 

Beneatli the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire , 
Or Job's pathetic plaint, and wailing cry ; 

Or I'apt Isaiah's wild, seraphic fire ; 
Or other holy seers that tune the sacred Ivre. 




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J't'vliaps tlu> Christian volume is the theme. 

IIow guiltless blood for guilty man was shed ; 
How He, who bore in Heaven the second name, 

Had not on earth whereon to lay His head ; 
How His first followers and servants sped ; 

The precepts sage they wrote to many a land . 
How he, who lone m Patmos banished, 

Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand; 
And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounced by Heaven's 
command. 




37 




Then kneeling dcnvn, to Heaven's Eternal King, 

The saint, the father, and the husband prays : 
Hope '-springs exulting on triumphant wing,""--' 

That thus they all shall meet in future days ; 
There ever l)ask in uncreated rays, 

Ko more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear, 
Together hymning their Creator's ])raise. 

In sueh society, 3-et still more dear ; 
While circling Time moves round in an eternal sphere. 
* Pope's Windsor Forest. U. B. 




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Compared witli this, how poor Religion's pride. 

In all the pomp of method, and of art, 
When men display to congregations wide 

Devotion's ev'ry grace, except the heart ! 
Tlie Power, incensed, the pageant will desert, 

The pompons strain, the sacerdotal stole ; 
But haply, in some cottage far apart. 

May hear, well pleased, the language of the sonl 
And in His book of life the inmates poor enroll. 





Tli(> iiareiit-pair their secret homasre pay. 
And iirofl'cr u)) to Heaven the warm request. 



41 




Then liomoward ull take oif their sev'ral way ; 

The youngling cottagers retire to rest : 
The parent-pair tlieir secret homage pay, 

And proffer np to Heaven the warm request, 
That He who stills the raven's clam'rous nest, 

And decks the lily fair in flow'ry pride, 
Would, in the way His wisdom sees the best. 

For them and for their little ones provide ; 
But chiefly, in their hearts with grace divine preside. 




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From s(;eiies like these old Scotia's grandeur springs, 

That makes her loved at home, revered abroad: 
Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, 

" An honest man's the nol)lest work of God :*' 
And certes, in fliir Virtue's lieav'nly road, 

The cottage leaves the palace far behind ; 
What is a lordling's pomp? a cund)rous load, 

Disguising oft the wretch of human kind, 
Studic'l in arts of hell, in wickedness refined ! 




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45 




O Thou ! who poured the jvatriotic tide 

That streamed through Wallace's undaunted heart ; 
AVho dared to nobly stem tyrannic pride, 

Or nobly die, the second glorious part, 
(The patriot's God, peculiarly. Thou art. 

His Friend, Inspirer, Guardian, and Reward !) 
O never, never, Scotia's realm desert ; 

B>it still the patriot, and the patriot-bard. 
In bright succession raise, her ornament and guard ! 




47 




O Scotiu ! iny dear, inj' native soil ! 

For wliom my wannest wish to Heaven is sent ! 
Ijong may thy hardy sons of rustic toil 

Be blest with health, and })eace, and sweet content 
And, oh, may Heaven their sim})le lives prevent 

From luxury's contagion, weak and vile ! 
Then, howeer crowns and con)nets be rent, 

A virtuons populace mav vise the while, 
nd stand a wall of lire around their muchdoved Isle. 








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